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Harold Mansfield
06-08-2010, 07:57 PM
In a blog post aptly titled Links and Twitters: Length Shouldn’t Matter, Twitter’s Sean Garrett announced that the company is taking a new approach to URLs. Not only will all links on Twitter.com and Twitter apps be “wrapped” in t.co links, but they will no longer count against the 140 character limit. These change will occur throughout the summer.
Twitter to Change Links: They Won’t Count Against the 140 Character Limit (http://mashable.com/2010/06/08/twitter-t-co/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Mashable+%28Mashable%29)

FINALLY! Now maybe you will be able to use Twitter for something after all. Users will be able to see real link URL's, so now everything won't look suspect.

vangogh
06-08-2010, 09:29 PM
That's good news. It looks like there's edit to the post that the links will count in the character limit, but only after they're wrapped in the t.co links.

I wonder if this is because all the url shorteners can make it difficult to know where you're actually clicking to. I think they've becoming a phishing tactic. Sounds like with t.co you'll be able to see part of the real page, whether the url or the page title or something else to let you know where you're going.

KristineS
06-09-2010, 02:13 PM
I think this is great news. Having to use the URL shorteners always annoyed me. I'd much prefer being able to see at least some indication of where I was going.

Patrysha
06-09-2010, 06:10 PM
I have tweetdeck set up so that it shows me a preview of any shortened URL, so that I have at least some idea of where I am going to be sent...

It's good that they are applying that across the board though...

vangogh
06-10-2010, 02:28 AM
Tweetie shows me the same. Many of the desktop apps do now, though maybe not all. It's one of the better features, since you otherwise have to trust the link sight unseen.

phanio
06-15-2010, 04:15 PM
I find it strange to hear this news as I was under the impression that Twitter was attempting their own link shortener?

vangogh
06-15-2010, 04:32 PM
They are. I think that's where this comes from. If I understood right Twitter will shorten any URL for you automatically (if needed) so you don't need to use another service. When you tweet the only characters that will count in the 140 are those left over after Twitter does the URL shortening.


“the way the Twitter API counts characters is going to change ever so slightly. our 140 characters is now going to be defined as 140 characters after link wrapping. t.co links are of a predictable length — they will always be 20 characters. after we make this live, it will be feasible to send in the text for a status that is greater than 140 characters. the rule is after the link wrapping, the text transforms to 140 characters or fewer. we’ll be using the same logic that is in twitter-text-rb to figure out what is a URL. ”

bizjunkie
06-15-2010, 05:49 PM
Does Twitter not like the other services or is this a control thing? I could never figure out Twitter or Facebook for that matter. Both have tons of eye balls but never seem to provide anything but fodder - are they making money? I really don't care or have time to watch tweet after tweet about what someone is buying at the store.

vangogh
06-15-2010, 10:01 PM
It might be a control thing. Twitter has had URL shorteners for awhile. They would much rather people go through their URLs than a third party since it gives them more access to data about us and what we do and say.

Facebook has been making money for a little while and Twitter is just now gearing up for the same. Early on they were less concerned with making money and more concerned with building out the network. Was that the right thing to do? Only time will tell. Many investors think they're doing things right.

Many business use one or both in a variety of ways to help their own business too. It's usually not direct selling. It's often more about building relationships with your customers and extending the reach of your brand.

jamestl2
06-16-2010, 12:37 AM
I really don't care or have time to watch tweet after tweet about what someone is buying at the store.

I don't either, that's why I pretty much avoid Twitter.


Although I do think flutter (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BeLZCy-_m3s) shows some promise for the future!

vangogh
06-16-2010, 12:53 AM
Too funny. I think Flutter is going to take over the world.

jamestl2
06-18-2010, 09:24 PM
Yeah, I thought it was a pretty good mockumentary as well.

The whole you can now compress "tweets" into even shorter "fluts" was probably the best aspect of it :D.

vangogh
06-19-2010, 01:15 AM
The whole video was great. I like the ending too. I won't say what it is so as not to spoil the joke for anyone who wants to watch. The 26 character thing was funny. One character for each letter of the alphabet.

KristineS
06-21-2010, 01:23 PM
I'd never seen the Flutter video before. That was hilarious.

I'm also a little scared though because I could really see people thinking like that somewhere. Eventually the entire English language could be distilled into a bunch of emoticons.

Paper Shredder Clay
06-21-2010, 01:34 PM
Wow that does sound like great news.